Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026
Stylized + Dark: a typical launch earns $493 in its first year
That is the median of 36 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 3 of 70 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 2.7 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 33% on the year before: 65 against 49.
- Price
- $493 median of 36 launches
- Price vs a year earlier
- −75.7% four quarters on the four before
- Releases, 12 months
- 65 49 the year before
- Upcoming games
- 148 coming soon on Steam
- Games on the store
- 365 carrying both tags
Boards
as of 30 Sep 2026Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.
| Board | Value | Interval | Sample | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it. | 0.10%share of upcoming wishlist heat | 0.05% to 0.17% | 12 ranked of 148 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026 | #1,800 of 7,193pairs on this board |
| Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter. | 1.06xhits against expected | 0.74x to 1.80x | 70 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old) | #2,435 of 6,324pairs on this board |
| Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 20 or more releases in each 12-month period. | |||
| Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal. | Below this board's minimum sample, so not ranked. Needs 15 or more tracked games and 1,000 reviews in each window. | |||
Pairs are noisier than genres: the demand boards at pair level are indicative only.
Launch success
launches 6 to 30 months oldMatured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.
- Launches
- 70
- Hit rate
- 4.3%0.0% to 8.7%
- Expected rate
- 3.8%
- Against expected
- 1.06x0.74x to 1.80x
Launch window: indie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old). Hit odds are shrunk toward the Steam-wide rate by 3 expected hits.
Revenue spread
70 launchesEstimated lifetime gross of the same matured launches. Half earned less than the median; one in ten earned more than the top figure.
- Bottom tenth
- $18
- Median
- $566
- Top tenth
- $21,579
Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.
Supply
raw release countsGames released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.
- Change
- +33%
Parent tags
Comparable games
8 indie titlesThe biggest indie games in this pair by estimated lifetime gross. Revenue is shown as a number at 50 or more reviews, as a range at 10 to 49, and not at all below 10.
- Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered (opens the Steam store)2026 · 663 reviews, 96% positiveest. $336k
- Ground Zero (opens the Steam store)2026 · 725 reviews, 88% positiveest. $293k
- Knuckle Sandwich (opens the Steam store)2023 · 517 reviews, 86% positiveest. $209k
- Dark Hunting Ground (opens the Steam store)2024 · 774 reviews, 92% positiveest. $204k
- Pyromaniac (opens the Steam store)2026 · 1,031 reviews, 86% positiveest. $104k
- NODE (opens the Steam store)2025 · 146 reviews, 91% positiveest. $74k
- Her Love, Like Poison (opens the Steam store)2025 · 272 reviews, 96% positiveest. $39k
- Lost in Prayer (opens the Steam store)2025 · 92 reviews, 80% positiveest. $37k
More with Stylized
pairs with Stylized- Roguelite + Stylized$2,12543 launches priced, 71 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Stylized$1,48650 launches priced, 95 releases in 12 months
- Surreal + Stylized$1,26334 launches priced, 44 releases in 12 months
- FPS + Stylized$1,01141 launches priced, 79 releases in 12 months
- Stylized + Linear$75830 launches priced, 53 releases in 12 months
- Stylized + 2D Platformer$70731 launches priced, 50 releases in 12 months
More with Dark
pairs with Dark- RPG + Dark$3,32642 launches priced, 68 releases in 12 months
- Dark + Female Protagonist$3,04831 launches priced, 31 releases in 12 months
- Dark + Supernatural$2,48942 launches priced, 63 releases in 12 months
- Story Rich + Dark$2,427120 launches priced, 161 releases in 12 months
- Dark + Choices Matter$2,30338 launches priced, 62 releases in 12 months
- Visual Novel + Dark$1,85867 launches priced, 112 releases in 12 months
Verdicts
in developmentGMD Verdicts will be a written read on a niche, built from the same data and the published method on this site. Join the early list and we will email you when the first ones are ready. Nothing on this page is held back while you wait.